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Hello all! I'm sailing on Utopia on January 20th and still have two bids pending on Royal Up. It's been a while since I submitted a Royal Up bid. How close to the actual sailing could I get my offer accepted...or are the odds now that I'm not getting one? Thanks for any insight!

Time to start gearing up to cruise again! It's been a busy 7 months since my solo adventure on Voyager. Lots of scouting moving from Cub's to Troop with many plans coming down the pipe line. We actually don't have a cruise scheduled after this one which is the first time that has happened since 2017! This will also be our last cruise with a child 12 and under and our first cruise Diamond. If things work out I may squeeze in a western Caribbean towards the end of next summer (before he hits 13) but for now it looks like my next time afloat will be a 24 ft catamaran off Great Abaco in 2026! That being the case a Holiday afloat for the family is in order. For this 5 day sailing out of Galveston departing Nov 25th we are booked in a Jr Suite just forward of the hump. It is a standard Itinerary from this port. Costa Maya and Cozumel are our ports of call. Sunday Nov 24 Drive to Galveston in the afternoon. Obviously we will be making an obligatory stop at Bucky’s on the way. I think I might get a corner of my “Texan Card” clipped if I skipped this! We try to get through Houston in the afternoon but Sunday traffic is better than weekday madness down there. Check in at our hotel on the island and Supper at Salsa’s is a tradition for us. Monday Nov 25 We normally have breakfast at the hotel since it is right there and free, however I may try and talk Herself into going to Café Canela. Pancakes are on the menu so the boy will go for it I am sure. This is where I ate in February and the food was fantastic. Absolutely worth a return trip. Then make sure of all our bags, check out and head for Terminal 10. I managed to snag covered parking right across from the terminal this time. We use Discount Cruise Parking and ride their shuttle many times but this spot looks pretty sweet. Speaking of Suites, A Jr doesn’t get all the perks but the Suite lounge at the terminal is one of them we do. So check our bags, through security and up the escalator we go. I don’t think we have any set plans for boarding day but I know boy will want to check out the teen area. HE is excited that he isn’t consigned to the kids in Adventure ocean. He loved his time there but has out grown it. Tuesday Nov 26 Time for my favorite thing about cruising.. _doing nothing_ Yup time to embrace my inner vegetable. Hang out on the rail and mindlessly watch the flying fish. Watch the clouds, cook in a hot tub, Take a nap with the DW. (maybe even sleep) Good chance of Izumi for supper but nothing decided. Wednesday Nov 27 Costa Maya. The Boy actually picked our excursion here. We are going to take the time to see the Chacchoben Ruins. I was sonly to happy to acquiesce to his choice as I am a bit of a history nut. We are booked on the Exclusive Drive tour so not quite so sardine canned into the tour bus this time. Thursday Nov 28 Thanksgiving in Cozumel! We are going to take the Twister boat to Isla de la Passion. Something frivolous and fun after a cultural day ashore. The DW loves the beach and the boy will be trying out his snorkeling gear to start getting ready for his Scouting adventure in the Bahamas. Beach food with pygmy racoons for our Thanksgiving Feast! Friday Nov 29 Back to my favorite cruising activity. Relax on the balcony and watch the sea ignore us as we drift by. Sure we will have to set aside an hour or so to pack up but sea days are awesome no matter what. Sat Nov 30 Back to the chill reality of an incoming Texas winter. Hit the road back home to Arlington with another stop to see the Beaver en-route. I am sure things will shift and change as we get closer. Right now it is still 52 days away. Until then we have new cruise shirts to pack, ducks to label and door magnets to assemble. I know once we get through October Herself will go full steam into packing and planning decorations. Getting close enough though I can almost taste my blueberry nojito!

Hi, I am new to the blog, I tried looking for similar questions but didn't succeed so apologies if I missed the answer to the below. We are due to sail on the Anthem of the seas in around 4months. This will be our 2nd RCCL cruise and we're looking forward to it. We have booked a GTY interior room (to accommodate 2 adults+children) and I confirmed the booking was GTY ZI. I have been accessing the RCCL portal several times booking drinks packages etc..., however recently I noticed something that I am pretty sure was not there before. My booking is now showing OCEAN VIEW #GTY and not just #GTY like it was previously and unlike to the rest of our travelling buddies in the other rooms. Should I keep my hopes low or is it really possible that RCCL just upgraded us from an interior (ZI) to an ocean view (YO) automatically and without us requesting anything so much in advance of our cruise? Thanks!

I sail on Icon in about a month. My royal up bid was sitting as "submitted" for about 2 weeks. Now it says pending and won't let me modify. Should I consider this a pretty good sign it was accepted?

We are going to try the Royal Up on our March cruise on the Wonder. We just found out about this program. Right now we are in an ocean view balcony room and it is currently at $1200/pp. The junior suites are running around $3300/pp. What would be a logical bid to have the best chances of being upgraded. We will bid on everything available but we are wondering about the prices. We are willing to spend up to a total of $1000 ($500/pp) for both of us on an upgrade. Is that a likely occurrence?

How difficult or easy have people found it to get an early check-in time when check-in opens at 45 days? And what is the closest someone has had towards cruise day to get your room assignment on a GTY. Especially if you want to partake in the Royal Up program. Thanks

Traveling on 10/23/22 symphony of the seas sailing with a group that is ANXIOUSLY awaiting the Royal Up bidding, but we haven’t gotten any news or emails. System is still saying wait until 30 days. Anyone else on this sailing receive any news? Also we’ve been trying to purchase the unlimited meal package, but it will not allow any of our traveling group to add it to cart. Does RC’s website always have so many issues? TYIA

This probably is a dumb question, but does anyone know if it’s possible to change the payment for Royal Up after I have made my bids while they are still pending?

I just received a Royal Up bid possibility for our sailing in a few weeks. As of now we are in an Owners Suite with a minimal bid in for a 2 Bedroom Aqua (really would prefer 2 bathrooms) but nothing was available at time of booking. My question is two fold, does anyone know the stateroom numbers of the Star Loft Suites so I can see their location and your thoughts if you have stayed there? ie part balcony in proximity to the basketball court etc. The minimum bid requested is $1300.00 so even if we bid that my CC gets hit for $2600.00 if we "win" Planning on staying low key so we will be in stateroom a great deal. Your thoughts would be so appreciated, what would you do? Thanks a bunch Sailing Harmony

So after exhaustive research and continuous communication with family we did increase our bid on the 2 bedroom aqua suite and placed a nominal bid on the Royal Loft suite for our very special family Thanksgiving 1st time sailing on RCCL. May I ask for any thoughts regarding your experiences in either cabin (both have 2 bathrooms?) and most importantly the jump from Sky class to Star class; we did purchase the refreshment package at $20.00 pp ( 3 of us) if we win the ability to pay more for the upgrade it would be a 24 hour window, can we still have our refreshment package refunded? As always I appreciate your incredible input, and positive thoughts our way also, be well everyone. (currently booked on OS)

Ok, so I've submitted a bid through RoyalUp for a neighborhood balcony, upgrading from an ocean view stateroom. My question is, if my bid is accepted will we get the perks that come with a neighborhood balcony? Just curious, I mean, if we don't, no biggie. Sure would be nice though! Crossing my fingers for a boardwalk balcony though...partial ocean view, haha! Thanks in advance!

Now that I've finally found the elusive email and am waiting on that first golden ticket to appear, it got me wondering a few things about how it works. Is your bid a set amount, or function as a max? Say I bid $1000, and the next highest bidder only bids $500, do I win at $1000 or, say, $505? I got offers for both a junior and a grande suite. What happens if i win both? Does it default to the higher of the two, or does it give me a choice? Can a pending bid maybe interfere with printing my papers? I've been trying to print my set sail pass and luggage tags for the last 4 days, and cant get in. Didnt know if maybe it's because it might well change (though i can't imagine RC's IT to be that intelligent) Lastly, anyone feel like waiting for that won/lost email is about the same as waiting for that imminent sail date that just wont hurry up and get here?